Ted Poe: EPA Admin Al Armendariz Needs to Go

I released the following statement responding to statements made by EPA Region Six Administrator Al Armendariz:

The comments made by Administrator Armendariz back in 2010 confirm what we’ve known all along: the EPA’s crusade to destroy the oil and gas industry is a politically premeditated effort, not one meant to protect the environment. Administrator Armendariz’s words reflect his disdain for the oil and gas industry and make clear that his decisions are made without an ounce of impartiality. He should be fired.

The EPA is an agency charged with protecting the environment, instead it has focused its efforts on targeting, intimidating, and vilifying the energy industry in any way it can. The aggressive assault the EPA has unleashed on the oil and gas industry has not only increased the cost of energy, it has destroyed jobs.

The oil and gas industry accounts for 9.2 million jobs in the United States. ‘Making examples’ of this field has put American jobs in jeopardy. Ironically, Mr. Armendariz’s oversees the EPA’s efforts in Texas, which has been hit especially hard. Oil and gas and related industries make up nearly a quarter of the Texas economy. An assault on oil and gas is an assault on Texas.